I'd Say that's a 3: The Bristol Stool Scale

This one has been on British TV for a while now on a program called You Are What You Eat. Part of the show would involve the host, Gillian McKeith, shaming the people on the show by telling them how unhealthy their poo is. Not exactly the kind of thing you want on as you are sitting there trying to enjoy your dinner :)

I think it's great that someone is tackling this taboo subject. How will we understand how the human body works when a necessary daily function is taboo, and when we don't even know what is normal or healthy?

I've been eating a lot more fiber for the past couple weeks on a raw vegan diet, and as a result my stools could be classified as 5 or 6 in the Bristol stool chart. Is this diarrhea? Of course, what I really want to know is "Is this healthy?" There isn't much readily obtained information about this, as most people in the Western World don't eat this way and the subject of "poo" is one of the few remaining taboos.

FYI on a longterm vegan diet (with lots of processed foods such as bread, pasta, tofu, etc) my stools were in the 4-5 categories.

Here's what wikipedia says:
"Diarrhea occurs when insufficient fluid is absorbed by the colon. As part of the digestion process, or due to fluid intake, food is mixed with large amounts of water. Thus, digested food is essentially liquid prior to reaching the colon. The colon absorbs water, leaving the remaining material as a semisolid stool. If the colon is damaged or inflamed, however, absorption is inhibited, and watery stools result."

so what are "watery stools"? This is where the Bristol chart comes in handy, if only wikipedia had actually used it to explain what they mean. And if by "watery stools" they mean categories 5-7 in the Bristol chart, then does that necessarily mean the colon is "damaged or inflamed"?

I have many questions. should the stools float or sink? how long should the stools be in your colon (for optimum nutrient uptake, minimal putrification and water loss)? How long does it take for your body to adjust to changes in fiber intake, if at all? and ultimately, how does the food you eat affect all of these things?

aside, why does your body eliminate rapidly in a high altitude environment (especially when exercising in a high altitude environment)?

What does it mean when your bm are consistent with bristol scale 1 or 2? Does that mean I have a poor metabolism or slow digestion rate? What can I do to fix my problems. Are they due to poor diet and lack of consistency in the exercise dept. I do get some exercise but I work nights and sleep all day therefore my eating and sleeping and plain old living schedule is very off. My constipation problems have been around for a few years now, infrequent. But my bm have always been around the one/two scale in appearance, is his normal. I have also over the last few years gained weight, could this be secondary to my problems. Could I have parasites or worms in my bowel causing this? I am very concerned and would like to know what I can do to fix this/these problems. Thanks!

im a vegan too, and as someone who suffers from mild, but annoying, IBS i find that if ive consumed alot of things that aggravate it, then i will be 5/6. If i am eating a regular healthy balanced vegan diet then i find they are more like a type 4 - with a relatively firm, quite healthy-looking pureéd consistency. What a surreal thing to be talking about...

Things that aggravate my IBS are as follows:

alcohol
drugs
processed wheat
anxiety
stress
processed foods in general
anything carbonated
and - didnt realise this till i turned vegan - but dairy products etc.
too much fruit and vegetable based foods - too much of a good thing, eh folks?

@danielle: It means that your large intestine is absorbing too much water from your food because your food isn't travelling down the gastrointestinal (GI) tract fast enough. Usually this means you do not eat enough dietary fibre; hence, the peristalsis that occurs in your GI track is not able to push down the mushy food down fast enough. This results in extra water being absorbed in the large intestine because the food has spent too much time there. When so much water is absorbed, your stools become harder.

To fix this, increase the amount of dietary fibre in your daily intake. This isn't particularly serious short term; I would be more worried if it was at 7 rather than if it was at 2.

FYI on my way back to my home country (I had been visiting a foreign country), I got a case of number 7 in the foreign airport toilet. Needless to say, I was horrified.

I too want to know how long (and big around) should 3 and 4 be? Also, what color should they be and should they sink or swim?